Wolf harvest lower than last year
In the Panhandle Region, wolf harvest was slightly lower than last year after the season closed on March 31. Between hunting and trapping, 70 wolves were harvested during the 2012-2013 season (reported as of April 3) versus 76 wolves during the 2011-2012 season.
Harvest by trapping increased this season with 51 wolves being harvested versus 43 last year. Harvest by hunting decreased from 33 to 19 wolves.
As of April 3, overall wolf harvest in Idaho was less than the previous season. During the 2012-2013 season 312 wolves were harvested between hunting and trapping. During the 2011-2012 season 379 wolves were harvested.
The hunting season for wolves has been extended in the Lolo, Selway, Middle Fork, and portions of the Dworshak-Elk City regions until June 30.
At the end of 2012, Idaho Fish and Game estimated the population of wolves in Idaho at 683 wolves, an 11 percent decline from 2011 according to the recently released 2012 Idaho Wolf Monitoring Progress Report. IDFG confirmed 66 documented packs in Idaho and 23 documented border packs. Of the 66 packs, 35 packs had a breeding pair and produced a minimum of 187 pups.
In 2012, there were 425 known wolf deaths, of which 98 percent (418) were human-caused. This included portions of both the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 hunting season along with predator control.
In the Panhandle Wolf Management Zone (GMU 1-7 and 9), Idaho Fish and Game counted 15 documented resident packs, five documented border packs, three suspected packs and one other documented pack. Three new resident packs were documented in 2012.
The minimum number of wolves detected throughout the Panhandle Zone was 55 at the end of 2012 (this number is not an estimate of the population, only the number of wolves seen).
Idaho Fish and Game surveyed five documented wolf packs in Boundary County: Cutoff Peak, Boundary (in the Purcell Mountains), Copper Falls, Roman Nose and Calder Mountain. Suspected packs include the Farnham pack and a small area of the Keokee pack.
Breeding pairs were detected in the packs of Cutoff Peak, Copper Falls and Calder Mountain. Those three packs also had a minimum of four wolves detected in each pack.
In the Panhandle Zone, no confirmed or probable wolf-caused livestock depredations occurred in 2012 but there was one confirmed domestic dog depredation.